Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 260 Remington - Thoughts...

With the 6.5 craze being in full force with the onset in popularity of the 6.5x284 and the emergence of the 26 Nosler are there any die hards out there who love the 260 Remington? I am asking this as I do not currently own this caliber but have several 6.5's including a 6.5x55, 264 Win Mag (2 pre-64's). Why should I buy the 260 Remington or why not? I understand that the 6.5x284 and the 26 nosler may have limited barrel life, and this may be the advantage to the 260 Rem.

Thoughts/

Love mine 700 MR in a Micky stock
Whitetail hate it.

You should not. You have your 6.5 bases covered exceptionally well. If someone is complaining about the recoil of the mild 264 WinMag, they need to drop back to bunnyrabbits with 22's and call it good.

I have less than zero interest in the 260 or 6.5 Creedmore as the 264WM and the new Noozler round push the exact same high BC bullets, but at meaningful speed.

Why choose between high BC and speed when one can have both?

Great posts! I love my 264 WM's and have never felt the recoil. I have taken 2 of my biggest bucks with the standard pre 64 shooting a 130 accubond at 3100 fps.

Hell yes...

And plenty of Lapua brass to boot. I'm partial to 2 for the price of 1. You've got 243 covered on the low end and 7-08 on the upper end if you twist it right, all in a sub 7# package.

I've noticed that the bigger cases are used by folks who shoot little with them. That does included some very serious hunters. If you want to own a rifle, sight it in, and then only shoot a few times a year at game, a .26 Nosler would be the rifle to own. But if you like to shoot your rifle several hundred times per year, the littler cases make sense too. Less powder, "meaningful" barrel life, and lots more fun. At least you can spend almost as much time shooting as barrel cooling with a small case! When I need to kill something big and far away, like a deer @ 300 yards, I can always borrow a bigger rifle .

Love the 260 Rem here, have had at least one since it was introduced in 1997. My current one is a LH Savage Predator Max 1 that shoots very well. My wife has a really nice 6.5x55, a left hand Tikka T3 and I also have a custom LH Rem 700 in 264 Win Mag and love the round as well. If you have a good 6.5x55 there is no need for a 260 (goes the other way too) but there is no problem have more than one similar round. It is a really easy cartridge to work with.

130 gr. Bullet and Reloder 17 = 3050 ........ from a .260 with a 25" barrel.
I have used a .260 on prairie game here for the last four years and am quite pleased. If anything the 130 gr. berger VLDS are a bit much for antelope. I had a .264 back before all the new powders came out and it was not as impressive as I thought It should be.

300 Savage - I am the same way with regard to all of my magnums. I may shoot them 10 x's per year to check zero and then shoot game.

See profile name on this post!!!!

I bought the 6.5x55 for my daughters to shoot (11 & 8). It is a model 70 featherweight - Mint and a really good shooting rifle. This will be their hunting rifle and was thinking about another gun for me (like I really need one) LOL.

CrankEmUp, I understand the need for the power of a big case for special purpose uses, such as large/dangerous game or very long range shooting. They just have more power. But I think the little cases are useful too, often getting 80% of the velocity for a given weight bullet but using about 50% of the powder. Maybe there is room for them all .

Well you need to find some kind of reason, lol. I do actually like to have both the 260 and 6.5x55 and have loads worked up for both, no mix ups that way which in theory anyway can happen with loads in the same cartridge.

Yes - I agree. I can honestly say that I really dont enjoy shooting a lightweight 300 mag, at the range, but love to shoot period. Repetition and the practice of shooting mechanics does nothing but help sharpen skills for the field. I have several 700 BDL varmint calibers and barrels to match. Would much rather shoot them than the magnums any day at the range.

Gerrygoat, did you kill that goat with a your 260?

I own a few 6.5x55's a 264 and picked up a 260 rem this past year. 123 gr amax with 4350

A few deer and a cow elk this year. 200-400 yds. Really enjoy shooting it

I'm a big fan of the little 260. For a modest 40 and a bit grains of powder you've got 1200 ft/lbs of energy left at a 1/4 mile with my 120 ttsx load and an absolute pussy cat to shoot. What's not to like 'course you can do even better with heavier bullets those numbers were just handy. If you need more reach for your hunting situations by all means get a six five with a bigger case but I find the 260 all I need for most of my hunting.

I'm having my factory barrel replaced by a Krieger so I'll have a Sako 85 260 take off barrel this summer sometime.

Have had a 260 since '01, one of my favorite rounds for deer. Just got into the 6.5x55 less than 2 years ago and like it too. The 260 has probably killed more deer than any other rifle I own.

Actually it was with the 264 WM and 130 gr Swift's @ 3200 fps. Shot one the previous year with the same load too, they worked very well. I have bagged one goat with the 140 gr Partition in my original 260 Rem, it worked great. Not sure I want to haul my current 9 1/2+ lb 260 up a mountain though, lol

I'm awaiting some 120 gr E Tips that are on order for the 264 WM should work as well as the Swift's did.